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Burlington's stock has surged after the off-price retailer significantly outperformed expectations in its fourth-quarter results.
March 8, 2025
Time to face the dairy dilemma: Costco is pulling nearly 80,000 pounds of butter from shelves after it was discovered that the product didn’t clearly disclose it contained milk.
The stock market had a mixed close yesterday, with some shares continuing their upward momentum thanks to the "Trump bump," while others experienced a slowdown. Investors increased their expectations for a rate cut in December after October’s inflation numbers came in as anticipated.
Apple (AAPL $250.41, -0.72%) is preparing to launch a new AI-driven smart-home tablet by March, designed to give the company a competitive edge in the smart-home market. The tablet, which resembles an iPad, will be wall-mounted and capable of controlling household functions like lighting and air conditioning, hosting video calls, answering queries, and playing music. It will be infused with Apple Intelligence, the company’s new generative AI platform, which debuted in last month’s iPhone models. Though the response to Apple’s AI features has been mixed, with users enjoying some quirky AI-generated notifications, Apple is hoping that its smarter version of Siri and new AI capabilities will help it break into the market dominated by Amazon’s Echo tablets and Google’s Nest Hub displays.
In addition to the basic version, Apple is reportedly working on a more expensive version of the tablet featuring a robotic arm that can adjust the screen’s position as the user moves around, adding more interactivity. However, despite the hype around smart homes—think showers that adjust temperature with your alarm or health sensors that automatically reorder medications—the market remains fragmented. Products like Amazon’s Astro home robot and Google's Home Mini, along with thermostats and security cameras, have yet to create a seamless smart-home experience. Even with limited success from its rivals, Apple is determined to make a significant entry.
This new hardware effort comes as Apple seeks fresh avenues for growth amid slowing sales of its traditional devices. While past ventures like its self-driving car project and the Vision Pro VR headset fell short of expectations—Vision Pro’s sales have been disappointing—Apple’s successful launch of the Apple Watch in the connected fitness market offers hope that the company can repeat its hardware success in this emerging category. Apple’s willingness to take risks with costly investments into new markets, even with the potential for failure, reflects its strategy to continually innovate, hoping for a breakout hit in the competitive smart-home space.
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It’s that time of year again… Hallmark movies, where small-town bakers find love with charming, fictional princes amid snowstorms, are back in full swing. The network's streaming service, along with several other niche platforms, has been flourishing. In fact, specialized streaming services like Hallmark (romance), Shudder (horror), and Crunchyroll (anime) have outpaced the growth of bigger players in the industry. Last year, subscriptions to these niche platforms rose by 27%, and this year, they’re up another 20%, while the major players saw a modest 8% bump.
Small but significant wins: Crunchyroll, owned by Sony, now boasts almost as many subscribers as Comcast’s Peacock. Meanwhile, comedy streaming platform Dropout TV recently achieved a major milestone, selling out Madison Square Garden with a live version of its hit show "Dimension 20."
A booming market: By the second quarter of this year, the number of people subscribing to at least one niche service surpassed 51 million—more than double the figure from just two years ago. Notably, around 60% of these subscriptions were made via Amazon’s channels service.
Big platforms face growing pains: Many of the larger streaming giants are struggling to turn a profit, weighed down by their expensive content deals and sports contracts. At the same time, their parent companies are grappling with the decline of traditional cable. To stem losses, these platforms have been cutting back on original programming, raising subscription fees, and introducing more ads—leading to a rise in people pausing their subscriptions. By September, more than a third of premium streaming subscribers had resubscribed to a service they’d previously canceled.
Niche players thrive by staying lean: The smaller, more focused streamers have managed to keep their budgets in check while building loyal audiences. This approach is proving successful, even drawing attention from larger rivals. For example, Netflix recently inked a deal to add more content from AMC Networks’ streaming service, AMC+.
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Type BTC on your preferred investment platform to check out the Bitcoin Mini from Grayscale. Think crypto, invest Grayscale.2
Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF ("BTC"), an exchange traded product, is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (or the ’40 Act) and therefore is not subject to the same regulations and protections as 1940 Act registered ETFs and mutual funds.
Advertiser's disclosures:
¹ The rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period.
² Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.
³ December 23, 2024 will be the last day to invest and be considered a shareholder in 2024. Any investments made after this date will only be considered shareholders starting in 2025.
⁴ Please read the offering circular and related risk at invest.modemobile.com. This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile’s Regulation A+ Offering.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors because it is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. It should only be considered a long-term investment. You must be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are also highly illiquid, and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities.
DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck.
